All for You
by writerchic16
Summary: After thinking of Juliet makes Justin upset, Jerry and Theresa tell him a story about a difficult time in their relationship. Justin is surprised when this leads to a bonding moment with Harper.
1. Chapter 1

**All for You**

Summary: After thinking of Juliet makes Justin upset, Jerry and Theresa tell him a story about a difficult time in their relationship. Justin is surprised when this leads to a bonding moment with Harper.

A/N: I actually wrote the first version of this years ago after "Alex in the Middle" first aired, in response to finding out about Jerry and Theresa's past. But I took it down, since I hadn't written much WOWP and didn't like the story very much. A couple years later, Disney randomly airs _Aladdin_ one afternoon, and I'm taking the story out for a complete overhaul. I have to say I'm much more satisfied with this version.

* * *

With a long sigh, Justin leaned back on his desk chair and stared at the picture of Juliet he still had as his laptop's wallpaper. Though he tried to hide it, he was still heartbroken over how their relationship had ended, and thought about her every day. After the incident, he'd asked his father what happened to vampires in Juliet's condition. Though he'd attempted to avoid the question, which only worried Justin more, Jerry reluctantly explained that vampires didn't last long after they were scratched. She had most likely turned to dust by the time the night was over.

A tear formed in his eye, but Justin ignored it. The sensation of crying over Juliet had become so common that he no longer felt shame when it happened.

That was why he had been so active in school lately. This intense focus on his senior year was all for her, or rather, his yearning for her. He wasn't at the point where he wanted to move on with his life, so he'd used other means of distracting himself. But as it turned out, the gaping hole she'd left in his heart couldn't be filled by scoring four three-pointers in a row _or_ being voted Student Body President.

Though he would never admit it, he envied Alex. She had been able to push her heartbreak aside to go after someone else, if just to land a date for the dance. To be honest, Justin suspected that she only went after George because she knew nothing would happen. Really, Alex was not the type to fall for a pep band leader.

But at least she'd been able to go after someone else. Here he was, more than a month later, and simply the thought of a new girlfriend made him sick to his stomach. That was why he was beginning to think this feeling would never go away, that he was going to be stuck in this state of mourning forever.

His stomach growled, and a glance at the clock proved that it was over an hour after his mother had called him for dinner, and he'd said he wasn't hungry. Thankfully, he'd at least moved past the point where he'd been too heartbroken to eat.

He allowed himself one last glance at Juliet's picture before he slammed his laptop shut. As he stood up, he remembered his tears and quickly wiped them away while he made his way downstairs. His family thought he'd moved on, and he'd like to keep it that way.

Since it was late in the day, he wasn't surprised to find his parents and Max in the living room watching the Mets game. He'd hoped they would be distracted, but his mother was in the kitchen cleaning up the last of the dinner dishes. "Hey, it's the Student Body President!" she greeted and gave him yet another congratulatory hug.

Theresa had been away for the past few days after his grandmother had guilted her into a visit after Magdalena broke her foot in a wrestling match. She'd arrived home that morning with homemade enchiladas and pictures their grandmother had sent of her cast. Apparently, Magdalena was very proud of her injury, which she'd gotten during a match she'd still ended up winning.

"Hey Mom," Justin managed to reply as he opened the fridge. Nothing immediately caught his eye, so he ended up just staring at the contents.

Concerned, Theresa remained standing next to him and said, "I could heat you up an enchilada if you want, honey."

"Huh? Oh, no, it's okay, I'll do it," Justin replied as he took the enchilada tray out of the fridge. The last thing he wanted was awkward chitchat while his mother heated up his food.

Instead of going back to the game, Theresa stayed in the kitchen and, much to his discomfort, examined his face. "You were thinking about Juliet again, weren't you? My poor hijo," she whispered, since she knew he wouldn't want his father and brother to overhear.

Surprised, Justin raised an eyebrow at her as he put the enchilada dish down on the counter and closed the fridge. "How'd you know?"

"You're upset right after being voted Student Body President. And your eyes are red," she pointed out. She put an arm around his shoulders in a quick hug. "It'll be okay, honey. Everyone goes through this."

Justin smirked. "I highly doubt everyone loses their vampire girlfriend because she was scratched by their sister's werewolf boyfriend."

"You know what I meant," Theresa retorted. She sat on one of the island stools, a clear indication she wanted to chat while he continued to heat up his food.

About to protest, Justin gave into the conversation with the reasoning that it might help him feel better. "Yeah I know," he said as he took his enchilada out of the microwave. "I just...I get so mad sometimes that Juliet and I never had a chance to be happy. It actually hurts me to think of what might have happened if she hadn't been a vampire. Maybe we could've actually had a lasting relationship and lived happily ever after."

"Justin, honey, whether you're a wizard, vampire, mortal, what_ever_, love will always be hard," Theresa assured him. "You just have to deal with disaster the best you can and move on. Trust me, I know. Your father and I almost didn't make it past our engagement."

Surprised at first, Justin realized that she must have been talking about his father having to give up his powers. Grateful for the opportunity to change the subject, he said, "Oh yeah. the Council making Dad give up his powers must have been rough."

"You have no idea," Theresa replied. "Of course, it didn't help that I didn't know what the heck was going on most of the time." She'd said that last part extra loud so Jerry could hear.

Her tone was enough to distract him from the game, and he turned to them. "I told you! It was official Council business that wasn't meant to be shared with a mortal!"

"When _I'm_ the mortal you're talking about, it_ is _my business!" Theresa retorted as old anger flared up.

Though he had been trying to keep whatever focus he had on the game, Max got up from the couch. "Look, if this is going to turn into one of your fights about magic, I'm going upstairs to check on an experiment. Hey Justin, let me know when they're done, 'k?"

Justin nodded at his brother on his way upstairs, but he couldn't help but wonder exactly _what_ experiment Max was going to check on. His parents were too distracted to notice, or else they definitely would've had some questions.

Since the angry look on his wife's face indicated she wasn't going to let this go, Jerry turned the volume on the game off. "I'm sorry, honey, but we've been through this before. You were new to magic and I didn't want to overwhelm you with the details..."

"I had a right to know, Jerry!" Theresa almost yelled. "You were making this huge decision, and you didn't even tell me until you'd already made it!"

"But the _way_ I told you almost makes up for that, right?" Jerry replied weakly.

Uncomfortable, Justin had a feeling his parents had forgotten he was still in the room, and briefly wondered if he should try to slip out like Max had. But as if on cue, his mother turned to him, a nostalgic smile on her face. "He has a point. You should hear this story."

_March 1989_

When Theresa planned to spend the summer after college in Puerto Rico, she had no idea how much it would change her life. Her whirlwind romance with Jerry Russo had been nothing short of amazing. Then at the end of the summer to find out he was a _wizard_...that had changed her whole world.

Magic...it was still a foreign concept to her. How could real people do things she had only seen in movies? When Jerry first showed her, she almost didn't want to believe him because doing so seemed like such a daunting task. But she had reminded herself how much she loved Jerry, how much she wanted their relationship to last. And she'd managed to believe in magic again, which she hadn't done since she was a small child.

But her fairy tale soon evolved into reality. Thankfully they both lived in New York, and so quickly moved in together. Though it upset her mother (who was purposely kept in the dark about Jerry's true identity), Theresa braved the move from her own suburban house to Jerry's impressive Manhattan loft. When Theresa asked how someone in his twenties came to own such valuable real estate, he explained that he'd gotten it from a wizard friend. Since wizards didn't place any value in mortal things like real estate or even money, the good friend, who'd owed Jerry a few favors anyway, had simply given it to him without asking for even a nominal payment.

The main floor had been built to be rented as a restaurant, which Jerry did to keep up appearances that he was earning an income. But he really didn't have to do so as he used his powers for almost everything he needed. Many times, Theresa had to teach him the value of doing things like cooking or doing household repairs the mortal way.

Actually, even though she had been coming down from a fairy tale, reality hadn't been too bad either. He proposed to her on Valentine's Day, and she didn't hesitate to say yes.

Then their relationship started to crumble. Much to her intense frustration, only a few days after her engagement, he began to act distant. He seemed distracted most of the time, and for no apparent reason got so upset that he snapped at her. She began to wonder if he was drinking. She'd also wondered if he was cheating on her, since he'd been going out too much lately without giving her a good reason why.

Eventually, she cornered him one day when he was on his way out the door.

"Where are you going, Jerry?" Theresa had snapped one day when she'd once again caught him trying to sneak out.

A guilty expression on his face that he wasn't quite able to mask, he'd replied, "Uh, just meeting a friend at the bar. Be back soon."

"No!" Theresa shouted as she ran to the front door and threw herself against it. Of course, she knew Jerry could both physically and magically move her, but she also knew he wouldn't dare. "You've been giving me these stupid excuses for weeks now! Do you think I'm naive, Jerry? What's her name?"

Startled, Jerry backed off, slightly afraid of the dark look she was giving him. "What's whose name? What are you talking about?"

He seemed genuinely confused. Frustrated, she lowered her arms and peeled herself away from the door. "Then what is it?" she pleaded. "Where have you been going, Jerry? I'm worried about you. You're just...not yourself lately."

His mouth opened, as if he were going to feed her another line, but then he closed it and sighed. "I've been going to meet my father," he confessed, much to her surprise. "There's been some...problems in the wizard world, and he's been keeping me up to date."

"Is that all? You could've told me that. I would've understood!" Theresa insisted as she was filled with relief. He wasn't drinking, and he wasn't cheating. Whatever else it was couldn't be so bad.

But his anxiety didn't fade at her tame reaction. "I didn't want to worry you, but...it's big, and it's about us." Before she could ask another question, he went to the door. "I promise I'll tell you everything when I get home, honey. Love you." He then kissed her good-bye and left.

She barely sat down the entire two hours he was gone. How could she after what he'd said? No matter how much she turned over his words in her brain, she could not imagine a big wizard issue that would affect them. Of course, she really shouldn't have been surprised given how little she knew about the wizard world. The most she could come up with was that maybe him marrying her was causing some sort of problem. Her biggest exposure to magic was watching _Bewitched_ when she was young, and she remembered that no one had liked that Samantha had married a mortal.

Boy, she must really have been desperate if she was using a sitcom as a reference.

About to cry from her nerves, she nearly shrieked with relief when she heard Jerry call her name. "Theresa? I'm back," he said. Oddly enough, it sounded like it was coming from the terrace.

"Thank goodness! I was worried sick!" she said in a rant on her way outside. "First you say there's this huge problem and leave without any explanation, then you leave me here for..."

She stopped short when she saw _why_ he sounded like they'd come from the terrace. "Oh...my..." she whispered in complete shock.

He was sitting on an actual flying carpet, which was airborne next to the terrace barrier. Turned to face her, he examined her reaction carefully. "What do you think?"

"I-I...I'm not sure..." she sputtered as she approached the carpet and ran her hand along the front. "What's it for..." Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You don't expect me to ride this thing, do you? Jerry, I could _fall_!"

Amused, he couldn't help but laugh at her. "Look, we need to talk, and this is the only way to make sure we both stick around to talk it out." At her apprehensive expression, he pressed, "I promise I won't let you fall. You trust me, right?"

_Present_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Justin interrupted. He waved his hands as he crossed the room to stand between his parents. "Are you making this up? It's starting to sound an awful lot like _Aladdin_."

Insulted, Theresa crossed her arms. "I am not! Ask your father!"

"She's right," Jerry assured him. "If anything, Disney copied _me_ since the movie came out years later. Giving girls a ride on the carpet was always _my_ trademark..."

At that, Theresa glared at him. "It was, was it?"

"Oh...ah...I didn't mean..." Jerry blurted, not sure how to backtrack.

To help his father out, Justin refocused their attention on the story. He was actually getting into it, though he supposed he shouldn't be surprised since he usually liked stories about their early relationship (as long as they didn't get _too_ romantic). They were pretty interesting given his parents' strange situation...the first time he heard them. His mother then usually ruined them by repeating them every chance she got.

"What happened next, Dad?" he interrupted.

Grateful for the distraction, Jerry continued, "Right. Well, since life _isn't_ a Disney movie, the ride didn't go as well as I'd hoped..." He trailed off when Alex came in from the terrace, went to the kitchen, and began looking for something. "...what are you doing, Alex?"

"Nothing...ah, here it is!" she exclaimed as she took out a bottle of yellow food coloring. Harper had used it along with green food coloring to make frosting designs on her St. Patrick's Day cupcakes.

Though she looked like she might ask what the coloring was for, Theresa then shook her head as she decided she didn't want to know. "Hey, Alex, you want to listen to this story about your father and I?"

"Yeah, it's a good one," Justin added.

But Alex scoffed at them. "That's okay, I'll wait until Mom tells it again." Dye in hand, she was about to leave...but quickly filled a nearby empty pitcher with tap water before she dashed out of the room.

"Something tells me I should have stopped her...oh well, I'm sure it's harmless," Jerry said with a shrug. "Anyway, back to the story..."


	2. Chapter 2

_March 1989_

With only some difficulty, he'd helped Theresa onto the carpet, and they'd taken off above the lights of Manhattan and into the night sky. "Beautiful night," he remarked as they cruised among the clouds.

"It really is...though that might just be because I've never seen one this close up before," Theresa joked, her arms wrapped around his waist...both as a romantic gesture, and because she was petrified of being up so high. "I can't believe you just picked me up from the terrace like that! People could've seen us!"

The concern had occurred to him too, but he'd dismissed it. "Relax," he assured her. "There was no one on the street. And even if someone was looking through a window...mortals tend to explain away the impossible. It's part of why magic has been able to stay hidden for thousands of years."

After she thought about that for a second, she snuggled closer to him. "I guess I'm just nervous. You know, they really should have seat belts on this thing."

"There's a helmet you could wear if you want," he joked, then snapped his fingers so that one appeared in his hand. "I tend not to use them, though. Too bulky."

Theresa considered his offer, but shook her head. "I'm okay. I don't even want to think about what that will do to my hair. I'll just hold on to you," she said as she grasped his waist tighter.

"Can't...breathe..." he teased, though she knew it was an exaggeration since her grip wasn't too bad. He snapped his fingers once more to make the helmet disappear.

They rode in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Finally, Theresa asked quietly, "Jerry?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are we up here?"

He knew what she was asking, and the thought of answering made him want to throw up on the carpet. While he'd kept this secret from her because the Council wouldn't have liked it, he had to be honest with himself. The thought of her reaction terrified him. Would she still love him if he was just a powerless mortal instead of the mysterious wizard she fell for? True, she claimed that she wanted him to rely on his powers less, but he knew that deep down, she was amazed by magic and loved when he used it to do things for her.

When the Council had approached him days after the engagement, thankfully while Theresa wasn't home, he was shocked. Given his father's connections, and his own respected power, he thought the Council would let him slide and keep his magic. The rule wasn't too popular anyway, since the typical wizard wouldn't even think of giving up his or her powers for a mortal. In fact, his was the first case of it in the last fifty years.

But much to his dismay, no matter who he approached, the Council wouldn't budge. His former professor Crumbs and his father tried to defend him, but there were too many conservatives on the board who simply could not ignore a wizard marrying a mortal. Weeks of fighting turned out to be useless in the end. He had gone out that night to hear them declare that he had no more than exactly one week to decide if he wanted to keep his powers.

Though he had accepted the decree, he knew he wouldn't need a week. Actually, he didn't even need an hour. All along, he'd known that if the Council stood their ground, he would give up his magic. That summer, and the past six months, was the best time he'd ever had because of her. His life had been full of fun and adventure before her...but that was nothing compared to the sense of purpose, the balance she provided, which he now couldn't do without.

He just had to make sure she felt the same way.

"You love me, right Theresa?" he asked, and was surprised to find his voice shaky. When she glanced up at him, startled, he continued, "I mean, you'd still love me and want to be with me even if I wasn't a wizard...right?"

Scared, she sat up straight and held onto his arm rather than his waist. "Of course I would," she said in a frightened whisper. "Jerry, what is going _on_?"

"It's...the Wizard Council," he uneasily began. Though she wrinkled her brow at the unfamiliar term, he figured she understood who they basically were by their name, and continued. "See, there's this...rule. That a wizard isn't allowed to marry a mortal."

Her fear turned to hot anger in a flash. "How dare they! They can't control who you fall in love with! That's...that's just _wrong_!"

"I know it is," Jerry assured her. "But it's an old rule that many wizards in the council support. Ever since they confronted me about our engagement, I've been trying to fight it."

His words had brought back her terror, along with some new panic. "Trying? As in you couldn't?" she said. "Jerry, no! They can't take you away from me! I-I...I won't let them!"

"Sh, it's okay," he assured her, pain in his voice as he found the courage to say what he had to do aloud. "I can stay with you...if I give up my powers. And I already decided that I am. I can't live without you."

She didn't say anything for a long time. Every couple of feet they flew, he glanced at her, tried to read her expression but couldn't. "Theresa?"

In response, she let out a long sigh, which made him wonder if she'd been holding her breath the whole time. After a couple more agonizing seconds, she finally spoke. "I'm not going to tell you not to do it, if that's what you're waiting for. I love you too much to lose you to magic. Maybe it's selfish, but it's how I feel."

Relieved, Jerry couldn't help but smile. That had been the reaction he hoped for. If she'd told him not to make the sacrifice, he might have questioned his decision...and he couldn't afford to do that with a decision this big. "I know, and I love you for that," he replied, then gave her a grateful kiss.

She returned it, but didn't seem to be as happy as he was that the issue was resolved. He guess he should have expected that since it was a lot to digest. "How do you feel about this?" he asked. "I mean, other than wanting me to give up my powers?" Their talk almost over, he turned the carpet around and began to head for home.

"I'm okay with that part," Theresa replied. Then after a beat, her voice turned sharp as she added, "But I'm _not_ okay with you keeping this _huge_ secret from me! You've known for weeks now! We're getting _married_, Jerry! We're supposed to share this kind of thing! Don't you think I could have _helped_ you make this decision? At least you wouldn't have been wondering for weeks now if I would still marry you if you didn't have powers. I mean, _really_..."

Well, he certainly had that one coming. It occurred to him that he probably should have told her when he first found out, but he'd been too worried over the Council that he didn't want any added stress. That, and he was afraid of what she'd say. "I'm sorry, honey," he said. "I just...I wasn't thinking clearly. The Council had me so anxious that I wouldn't have been able to handle your reaction. Again, I'm sorry."

But apparently this was a bigger problem than a rant and an apology could solve. "I wish you'd trusted me," she whispered. She'd pulled her legs in so that her chin rested on her knees, one hand on her feet while the other still on his arm. "I want to go home."

She must not have noticed his turn, which was understandable. "We're almost there," he assured her, and they flew the rest of the way home in silence.

_Present_

Amazed, Justin sunk onto one of the stools at the island while his parents quietly wrapped their arms around each other. He'd known of the story for a couple years, heard it dozens of times, but...he never understood how hard it must have been, not really. All along, there had been this side-story of his father's fight against the Council, which Justin could understand given that they almost captured his vampire girlfriend.

"What happened next?" Justin asked. Of course, he knew it ended with his father losing his powers. He was more curious about how his parents had reconciled.

Jerry had stood up during the story, so he perched on the edge of the couch facing his son. He still held on to his wife, who stood next to him. "Well...things were rough for a while," he explained while Theresa nodded in agreement. "It took your mother a long time to trust me again. Then the Council stripped my powers a week later, and it helped us because she had to teach me how to be a mortal."

"Oh boy was _that_ hard," Theresa remarked, though a small smile was on her face. "This guy could barely tie his shoes without magic. That's why he's so hard on you kids about using unsupervised magic - he doesn't want you dependent on it like he was."

His eyes wide, Justin simply stared at them for a minute, frozen by the revelation. That one confession said so much about why they were raised as they were, why his father was so uptight about them using random magic."Wow," he whispered. Then he shook his head. "So, wait, how does this help me get over Juliet?"

"Uh..." Jerry trailed off, then thought for a second. "Okay. Losing magic might not be the same as losing a girlfriend, but it was still very difficult for me to get over. I had to readjust my whole life and accept that things weren't going to turn out as I thought they would. In the end, I had to accept that while I'll always miss what I'd lost, I couldn't dwell on it because I still had to move forward." He then smiled at his wife. "And it helps if you realize that you've got a good life regardless."

"Aw, honey, that was sweet," Theresa replied as she kissed her husband's cheek. She let out a long sigh before she added, "I have to say, I think part of the reason I was so mad at you was because I was just so furious at the situation. It took me a long time to realize how useless that anger really was."

They made a lot of sense, and Justin knew it. All these negative emotions he'd been harboring...there was just no reason for them. Then again, losing one's powers was much different than losing the love of one's life. "But Juliet..."

"...would want you to be happy," Theresa assured him. "Trust me. When you love someone...all you want is for that person to be happy. Even without you."

During their talk, Justin had noticed his parents moving closer together, the loving gazes into each others' eyes more frequent. The sick feeling in his stomach warned him that this was his cue to make a quick exit. "Uh, yeah. Thanks for everything guys." About to leave, he paused when he reached the terrace. "Hey, is it okay if I take the carpet out for a ride?"

Theresa glanced at the clock on the microwave. "Sure. Don't be too long though, alright? I worry about you kids on that thing. And I don't care what your father did when he was young - you wear your helmet when you're flying!"

"I will, Mom," Justin promised, then chuckled to himself as he went out onto the terrace. They should know that he would never violate a wizard safety law for the sake of comfort. Used to the spell since he used it often for monster hunting, Justin easily focused his energy and made the carpet appear.

"Ah!"

Startled, Justin turned to find Harper lying on one of the lounge chairs, an open history textbook in her lap. She'd been listening to her MP3 player, but had removed her earbuds and was staring at the carpet in shock. "Hey, Harper. Sorry I scared you, didn't realize you were still out here."

"We have a test, so I insisted that I had to get some studying done," Harper explained as she held up the textbook. "She went to go work on a painting, since 'throwing water balloons off the terrace is really a two-person game.'"

With a slow nod of understanding, Justin replied, "Oh, so _that's_ what the food coloring was for..." He then wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Ew."

"That's what I said," Harper replied with a chuckle. She pointed at the carpet. "What is _that_?"

Surprised she didn't already know, he explained, "It's a flying carpet. I want to do some thinking so I thought I'd go for a ride."

"Cool!" she exclaimed, clearly eager to do so herself. "That'd be so amazing, I'd feel just like a Disney princess..." she trailed off as her face fell. "But you probably want to go alone, right?"

Despite his instinctive reaction to say he did, Justin still paused at her question. Actually, it probably wouldn't be so smart to fly when he would be so distracted by his troubled thoughts. While he could most likely keep himself focused enough to avoid crashing into a building, it couldn't hurt to have a co-pilot. So even though he feared he would regret the decision, he zapped up two helmets and two life vests. "It's okay, you can come along."

"Oh my gosh, really? Thank you, Justin!" Harper exclaimed as she gave him a quick hug. Once she noticed the safety gear, she became considerably less enthused. "We have to wear _those_?"

Justin nodded. "Safety first," he said as he strapped on his helmet.

Though she wasn't happy about it, Harper began to put on the vest. "Well, I do like the yellow color. It goes with my outfit." Since it was just a lazy Sunday, Harper was dressed down in bright blue velour tracksuit with a white tank top underneath. Justin couldn't help but think how nice it was to see her wear something normal for a change.

"Yeah...so, you ready?" he said as he climbed onto the carpet.

Once she secured her helmet, she got on and sat next to him, her legs crossed. Uncomfortable, she adjusted both her jacket and her helmet. "Okay, it's not exactly like _Aladdin_, but it'll do," she joked.

"Yeah, don't expect me to break into _A Whole New World_," Justin said as they took off. "I already told Alex that I won't do that anymore."

Surprised, Harper grinned at him. "You did?"

Justin frowned at the memory. "Yeah, it was her favorite song when she was little. She'd make me duet with her, and then she'd get mad at me when I didn't sing it well enough."

"You know, I kind of remember that," Harper said, her face thoughtful. "She loved Princess Jasmine and always made me be Rajah."

"Wouldn't be such a challenge now. You already have the kitty ears," he teased, which made her playfully smack his arm.

As they soared above Manhattan, Justin realized that he was actually enjoying this. Maybe this was more what he had needed - a fun ride rather than a brooding one. He actually hadn't thought about Juliet since he'd stepped onto the terrace, like some shield had made him leave all of his upsetting emotions at the door.

Actually, he might be on to something. When he had joined the basketball team, or run for Student Body President, he had done it for the sole purpose of distracting himself...which by nature, wasn't really a distraction at all. If he was purposely trying to get over Juliet, then he was still thinking about her, right? But she hadn't even crossed his mind in the five minutes of light, random conversation.

It could be that all he had to do was allow himself to be happy again, to enjoy life's little moments without wishing Juliet was there to share them with him.

"Are you okay?" Harper asked. She'd noticed his anxious expression, but thankfully knew enough to sit back and leave him to his thoughts. He appreciated that.

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, just thinking about stuff. Going for a ride usually does that to me." Suddenly relaxed, he suggested, "Hey, want to go watch the baseball game at Citi Field? We've got the best seat in the house."

Though she laughed, she still seemed concerned. "But that's like a half hour away in Queens, and I heard your mom say to be back soon."

"It's a half hour by _subway. _Only minutes my carpet," he assured her.

Harper shrugged. "In that case, sure. Who are they playing?"

"I have no idea. We'll find out when we get there," Justin said as he turned the carpet in the direction of the stadium.


End file.
